The present invention relates generally to printing techniques for the manufacture of active array regions. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for dispensing one or more entities using a nano-lithography technique for biomarker sensors. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to dispensing one or more patterns of monolayers of materials and even single molecule entities using an atomic force microscope tip(s), commonly called Dip-Pen Nanolithography (“DPN”), which is a direct-write printing technique. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
As time progressed, a variety of printing techniques have been developed. From the early days, printing relied upon certain basic elements including ink, paper, and machined surfaces, which bear text and/or images in relief that were transferred onto the paper. Ink coated steel plates were often used as the surfaces that transferred the text and/or images onto paper. Other printing techniques developed include lithography, typography, xylography, and conventional forms of ink jet printing, often used with computer applications.
Other types of printing techniques have been used to form one or more arrays of biological materials (including molecular probes) onto surfaces of substrates. The array of biological materials formed on the substrate is often called a “biological chips.” Certain types of biological chips include certain spatial regions on the order of about tens of microns in scale. These chips have been useful to determine whether one or more target molecules interact with one or more probe molecules on the biological chip.
Conventional biological chips have been used for certain types of screening techniques. Such screening techniques can be useful for determining information about either or both the probe and/or target molecules. As merely an example, a specific library of peptides used as probes can screen for one or more drugs. The peptides can be exposed to a receptor, and those probes that bind to the receptor can be identified using certain techniques. Although highly successful, these techniques are often limited in an ability to create smaller and smaller regions of biological materials.
Various limitations exist with these conventional techniques. For example, these techniques often have limited resolution and can be reduced to certain spatial sizes. Additionally, certain types of materials are often difficult and/or even incompatible with applications to other types of substrate structures. Furthermore, these techniques often cannot provide adequate spacing between the materials themselves to carry out sequential reactions in an efficient manner. These and other limitations are described throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for printing patterns of chemical and/or biological entities in a spatial manner are desired.